EDIT: DBS has since updated its offer for the LiveFresh card- now you get $80 Uber rides when you spend a min of $500 from the first month of your card approval. Existing DBS cardholders get $50 of Uber rides. This is valid till 31 Dec 2016. Thanks Miss Say for the update.
DBS is hunting for new credit card customers and from now till 30 September has 2 new sign up bonuses for its Live Fresh, Black, Woman’s and Everyday cards.
For easier analysis let’s call them Offer 1 and Offer 2
| Card applied for | Min. spend per month for first 2 months | Youโll get |
|---|---|---|
| Offer 1: DBS Live Fresh Card | S$400/month | S$100 worth of Uber rides* |
| Offer 2: DBS Black Visa Card DBS Womanโs Card POSB Everyday Card |
S$700/month | $100 Takashimaya Gift Vouchers^ |
Obviously, Offer 1 represents a much higher rebate in terms of the freebie. S$800 of spend gets you S$100 of Uber rides, which if you value at face value, is a 12.5% rebate. Assuming that S$800 is spent online , you get a further 5% cashback and 3X DBS points so you’d end up with
- S$100 of Uber rides
- S$40 of cashback
- 960 miles (480 DBS points)
That’s not too bad a haul for S$800 of spending!
EDIT: the 5% cashback is a bit iffy, as Ris points out on the comments. You need to spend a minimum of S$700 in a month to qualify.
Existing DBS cardholders are eligible to take advantage of this offer, assuming they have not cancelled a Live Fresh card within the past 12 months. The full T&C can be found here.ย Do note that you only get this S$100 of credit when you apply online.
Unfortunately, I have aย DBS Live Fresh card already. That leaves me with Offer 2.ย I’m guessing most readers here will already have the DBS Woman’s card, but if not, now is as good a time as any to get it.
Spending S$1,400 to get S$100 is clearlyย a much less attractive deal, given where you could have otherwise put that spending.ย What’s more, given the relative frequency with which you will take Uber versus spend money at Taka, I’d value the S$100 of Uber credit closer to face value than the Taka vouchers.
The only way I can justify taking up this offer is if I didn’t already have a Woman’s World card. Then I’d spend S$1,400 online and have
- 5,600 miles
- S$100 of Taka Voucher
But really the Taka Vouchers are just a “nice to have” thing in this case. I don’t think it’s good value to put that S$1,400 spend on the DBS Black card or the POSB Everyday. ย The T&C can be found here.
TL;DR, if you don’t have a DBS LiveFresh card now is as good a time as any to get one. Hit the minimums, take your cashback, miles and Uber credit then sock drawer the card. Your DBS LiveFresh points will pool with whatever you earn from the Altitudes/Woman’s World.
If you’re not already with Uber (where have you been living?) have a read of the following
UberX cuts Singapore fares by 15%
I don’t think existing DBS cardholders are eligible for the Live Fresh promotion. T&C says
2. To qualify for this Promotion (โQualified
Cardmembersโ), customers must:
a) be new to DBS/POSB Credit Cards ie. must not be an existing DBS/POSB Credit Cardmember
nope. scroll down. you’ll see the T&C for existing cardholders.
man, i always wonder if I should cancel a card if i dont use it.
times like these i wish i had.
do you have a strategy aaron?
cause you know, sometimes you dont cancel a card in hope some kind of offer comes along specific for that card you can take advantage of. this is a gambler’s fallacy i guess.
perhaps its always best to cancel a card once you dont use it, you can always apply for it back and miss out on the new joiner offers, yet get the promo offer.
what you said sounds good, i am vaguely aware that some cards have minimum holding periods lest they claw back the gift so i’d want to keep that in mind.
I have the same feeling as you. Should have cancelled my DBS Live Fresh since not using. I do notice that some banks (like DBS) offer promos to existing customers whilst others (like Citibank) only offer promotions to completely new customers with not a single credit card. Other than these two, Iโm not sure how the other banks are categorised โ so anyone who knows, feel free to jump in. For the latter bank type, it may not make much sense to cancel any card if you still have a core card from that bank that you are using no… Read more »
Note the 5% cashback T&C: “In addition to the above criteria, a minimum spend of S$700 on the DBS Live Fresh Card in a calendar month is required to qualify for the Cashback on online and Visa payWave purchases made in the same calendar month.”
eh, good spot. missed that. will update
DBS just updated the benefit to $80 Uber credit if you charge a minimum of $500 within the first month of approval.
– Uber credit has been adjusted downwards
– But the qualifying criteria has been relaxed as well.
I think its a win-win for everyone. But hey, DBS is still being sneaky by changing the promotion without notice!